A few days had passed since the scare with the cruise ship incident and Hyomin’s mother had promised to visit her in a week as they had already returned to their home in Busan. Hyomin had suggested for her to join them next weekend when Sunny had a short term break.

“Miss Park, the president would like to see you now.”

Hyomin looked up from her painting in surprise at her lecturer. She nodded at the lady and stood to leave her class. Jessica watched the brunette girl from the corner of her eyes as she caught the lecturer’s words too. This is the third time he’s wanted to see me, this can’t be good, Hyomin thought to herself as she made her way to the increasingly familiar office. His secretary motioned for her to enter the already open door.

The president was sitting behind his desk as usual but Hyomin had heard him coughing badly when she took her first step into the room. She slowly approached the desk as he took a swig from the glass of water and cleared his throat before looking at her. 

“Please have a seat.” 

“It’s alright, I’ll stand.”

The man sighed and shook his head slightly, an action Hyomin did not miss. Mr. Lee placed the tips of his fingers together and spoke in a calm voice, “So have you considered my offer, Miss Park.”

“Yes, and the answer is no.”

“So, you’re really a stubborn one.” 

Hyomin did not respond to him and continued looking at the man with defiance. The man shook his head again and leaned forward to rest his elbows on the desk, “Miss Park, you do realize that your actions will have consequences?” Mr. Lee looked Hyomin directly in the eye as he said that. Hyomin lifted her head a little higher, “I don’t know what you mean. I have done nothing wrong.” 

“I guess you leave me no choice,” Mr. Lee responded and pulled out a folder from his drawer to throw the contents onto the desk before her.

“You are familiar with Miss Jeon? I heard she was recently admitted into a hospital for a surgery in regards to her medical condition under this university’s medical care. Miss Park Soyeon as well, who is pursuing her degree in music under a full scholarship, allowing her to have quite a bit of financial freedom, for now, of course. Then there’s Miss Hahm who has had quite a bit of a rowdy high school history, starting three fights and getting suspended once before. That will not be a very good sight to show up on her permanent records should this university choose to dig deeper into her background. And there’s Miss Park Jiyeon. Talented young girl but it’ll be such a waste for her to lose her place her if the committee is made aware that her lecturers have been complaining about her uncontrollable temper in her classes, especially towards Miss Jung Sooyeon whom I believe is your current mentor. Then there’s Miss Lee, whom-“

“Enough.”

Mr. Lee looked up at Hyomin who was now fighting to hold back the tears in her eyes, “What was that, Miss Park?” Hyomin took a deep breath, “What do you want from me?” She knew it was a pointless question and she knew the president had already guessed her thoughts. 

“Leave Soonkyu.”

“I-I can’t.”

“Then you are willing to watch your friends suffer for your selfishness?”

Hyomin clenched her teeth and looked away. Of course she would not be able to do that to her friends that she had come to see as her own family but her heart broke at the thought of hurting her beautiful Sunny bunny. Mr. Lee almost smiled cynically when he heard an answer that was not unfamiliar to him. 

“I can’t do it, I love her too much.”

He leaned back in the chair, “I’m a kind man, so I will give you options that will make the choice easier for you.” He pulled out a small envelope out of the drawer and threw it next to the folder. Hyomin looked down to see what looked a flight ticket sticking out of the envelope.

“You have two choices Miss Park. One, you stay with Soonkyu and watch your friends lives fall apart. Two, you take that immediate offer of a one way ticket for a full scholarship to the most prestigious art university in New York, with high recommendations from Sungkyunkwan.” Mr. Lee watched Hyomin quietly as her inner battle ensued.

“And if I don’t choose either one?”

“Then I will assume that you do not care about your friends.”

Leaning forward, “Do you think Soonkyu could possibly love someone who is so selfish to choose herself over her friends? She’s done it to her own friends before and knowing my niece, it’s killing her until today that they were all denied entries here.” Hyomin’s breath caught in at those words and Mr. Lee continued before she could think further, “But they got lucky that another university accepted them. Your friends might not have the same luck.”

Hyomin closed her eyes and the image of Sunny flashed before her. Could she do it? Did she have it in her to hurt Sunny? But what would Sunny think of her if she hurt Jiyeon and the rest? What would her sisters think of her act of betrayal if she chose to be with Sunny?

Torn by her decision, she reached out to the desk and chose the unspeakable.

—————

Jessica tapped her nails impatiently against her arm as she leaned against the wall of the administration building. She watched a young couple playfully flirt with each other in the distance and sighed to herself as she checked her watch. Hyomin had been in that damned office for an hour now and Jessica was getting tired of being hit on by random university boys although it was not something new for the blonde beauty. 

As she scared another young boy away with her icy glare, she saw a blur of dark hair pass her and Jessica quickly moved to pick up the bags next to her before calling out to the figure who seemed not to hear her. Jessica Jung does not run, she grumbled to herself as she set chase to Hyomin before she lost sight of her. Jessica panted hard as she followed Hyomin to a part of the university garden she had not ventured into before. She winced as watched the girl stop behind a large oak tree and sink to her knees to let out a painful wail.

Jessica slowly approached Hyomin and moved to sit next to her without a word. She watched the girl shake as her cries grew louder but looked around to see that they couldn’t be heard since there was not a soul around them. Jessica sighed and did something that she had not done in a long time. 

Hyomin felt gentle pats on her back and turned slowly to see the blonde girl next to her. Unable to control herself, she threw herself into the surprised girl who was initially too shocked to react but moved to hug Hyomin when she regained her senses. It was an odd sight to anyone who saw the scene as the usually reserved ice princess gently continued to pat Hyomin’s head like an older sister.

When Hyomin’s sobs had reduced to sniffles, she turned her head up to face Jessica once more, “W-what are y-you doing here?” The blonde girl shrugged, “Doesn’t take a genius to figure that a trip to the president’s office can’t be good news.” Jessica noticed there was a small white envelope clutched in the brunette’s hand and a cold shiver ran down her spine at it’s familiarity. 

“So he gave you an ultimatum too.”

A shocked Hyomin moved to meet Jessica’s eyes, “H-how did you k-know?” Jessica sighed and broke her gaze to stare up at the leaves on the oak tree. The girl had a faraway look in her eyes, “Everyone has difficult choices to make in order to protect their loved ones. I was stuck with a difficult choice once before, and I made that decision too.” They remained silent for awhile as Hyomin tried to fit the pieces of the puzzle together.

“Is that why you moved to Los Angeles?” Hyomin asked softly after some time.

“Sort of,” Jessica answered shortly. “Anyway,” she said and stood up, “Let’s get out of here, nature is not really my thing.” Hyomin nodded and stood up with her, “Jessica-ssi, I have to go get my things-“ She was promptly cut off when Jessica held out the leather sling bag and thanked her as she took it. “You owe me a drink for lugging your stuff around.” Hyomin quickly nodded and was about to run after Jessica when the blonde girl stopped in her tracks, “And one other thing. I. Don’t. Run. So don’t make me do it again.” Jessica rolled her eyes when Hyomin giggled slightly at the blonde’s peculiar warning and continued walking with Hyomin at her heels.

—————

“Sunny-unnie!”

The short girl glanced up from her laptop and smiled at Seohyun waving at her from across the street. She waved back to the maknae and gestured for her to come over to join her. “Are you done with your classes?” Sunny asked as she watched the young girl take a seat next to her. “Yes unnie. I was just on my way to the dorm when I saw you sitting here.” Sunny nodded and looked to her laptop to sigh before pushing it away from her. 

“Is everything alright unnie?”

Sunny sighed and looked at the maknae with sad eyes, “Not really, I just received an email from my parents saying that my uncle is ill and that he has decided to leave me everything under his name because he has no children of his own.” The maknae cocked her head in an adorable manner, “That sounds more like good news than bad.” 

“Seobaby, remember what happened with Jessica? What makes you think Uncle Lee will treat me any differently if he finds out I’m with Hyomin?”

Seohyun patted her friend’s back, “We know that you still feel bad over what happened before, but that’s in the past unnie. The rest of the unnies and I will stand by you no matter what happens.” Sunny smiled at the maknae, “Thank you Seo.” But the maknae knew that her friend still had not forgiven herself for what happened.

Just then, Sooyoung and Jiyeon bounded over to their friends, surprising both Sunny and Seohyun. “Mwo? What are you both doing here?” Sunny asked Sooyoung. “Beanstalk invited me to go get ice cream after my class. We were just on the way when we saw you,” Jiyeon said happily as the taller girl rubbed the back of her neck sheepishly when she saw Sunny’s suspicious look. “Jiyeon-ssi, it’s not good to eat ice cream in autumn, you might fall sick,” said a concerned Seohyun and laughed when Jiyeon pouted at that statement. Sunny grinned at Sooyoung, “You invited Jiyeon without inviting Yoona? What will people think?” Sooyoung glared at her friend but before she could say anything, Jiyeon cut her off, “Let’s all go get some ice cream!” 

Sunny and Seohyun agreed quickly before Sooyoung could object and they gathered their things to leave. Sunny held Sooyoung back a little to allow the two maknaes to walk ahead and whispered to her friend, “Are you interested in the Dino?” She got her answer as she watched her taller friend blush. “We’re just friends, Sunny.” When she received a questioning look, she sputtered, “Alright, I l-like her. But I don’t know if it’s serious.”

“What happened to hating the Stick Legs who stole your food at the concert?”

“She already explained that it was for Boram’s sake.”

“And you fell for her at that moment.”

“Yah! I-I have not fallen-“

At that moment, Jiyeon turned around to the older girls who were lagging behind, “Why are you two walking so slow? You better not be trying to run away from treating us to ice cream, Beanstalk!” Sooyoung frowned, “I don’t break promises, Stick Legs.” Sunny smiled seeing Sooyoung’s grin when Jiyeon yelled back, “I’ll kill you if you do, Beanstalk.”

“Don’t hurt her.” Sooyoung turned to her friend in surprise at what she just heard. 

“You’re not mad if I like her?”

“Why would I be? She’s a good kid and she makes you smile.”

“Yeah she does,” Sooyoung said with a dreamy look in her eyes as she watched Jiyeon bouncing happily next to Seohyun.

“Take care of her or Minnie will have my head.”

The tall girl chuckled at the serious look on Sunny’s face, “I’ve never seen you more serious in my life.” She was playfully elbowed in the ribs by the shorter girl, “Yah, Minnie treats her like her younger sister. She’ll kill me if one of my friends plays out her dongsaeng.” It was Sooyoung’s turn to have a serious look, “I would never play with her feelings and if anyone else hurts her, they’ll have to deal with me.” 

“Good. Then it’s settled.”

The four girls reached the ice cream shop and poor Sooyoung was left shaking her head as she heard Jiyeon order a triple scoop all for herself. However, she was rewarded afterwards when they had sat down and Jiyeon fed her some spoons of her large treat. “Sunny, where’s Hyomin? I thought you would usually see each other after class,” Sooyoung asked with a mouthful of chocolate ice cream. 

Sunny who had not given it a second thought previously, shrugged, “She hasn’t called me, so I guess she’s busy with her classes. I’m staying over at her place tonight anyway, so I guess I’ll see her then.” Sooyoung frowned a little and turned to Jiyeon, “Did you see Hyomin at classes today?” Jiyeon nodded her head, “Yeap, unnie was in class today but she left after the second period.” Placing the small spoon on her lips, she looked thoughtful and lifted her spoon when she remembered something, “Ah, I remember unnie left after the lecturer said something to her but she didn’t take her things with her. When the class ended, I saw that evil girl leave with unnie’s bag.” 

Jiyeon gasped, “Did that evil girl do something bad to unnie?” The three other girls looked at each other. Seohyun shook her head, “Sica-unnie is cold but she wouldn’t hurt someone physically.” The maknaes watched the growing look of worry on Sunny’s face and Sooyoung quickly suggested Sunny to text Hyomin. The blonde girl typed a quick message to her girlfriend and received a response almost instantly.

To: Hyominnie

  -    Hey baby, where are you? You didn’t call me after your classes.

From: Hyominnie

  -    Sorry bunny. I’m out having drinks for a bit with Jessica. 

To: Hyominnie

  -    Jessica? Is everything alright?

From: Hyominnie

  -    We’re just talking about my assignment. Nothing to worry about bunny. I’ll see you at my place tonight, okay?

To: Hyominnie

  -    Okay Minnie. Please be careful, she’s sneakier than you think. I love you.

From: Hyominnie

  -    Don’t worry bunny, I will. I love you more.

“She’s with Jessica but they’re working on her assignment.” Sooyoung frowned at the name, “Are you sure that she’s alright?” Sunny sighed and shrugged, “She said she was and I believe her. Besides, I can just ask her what happened when I see her tonight.” The three girls nodded in agreement. Seohyun mentioned that she had to get back to the dorms to finish her assignments and Sunny offered to walk her home since it was getting late. Sooyoung and Jiyeon parted ways as the tall girl stated she wanted to see Jiyeon get home safely first. Sunny’s head was full of thoughts as she stared out of the bus window. 

Why was Hyomin hanging out with Jessica and what did Jessica have planned?

—————

Sunny lugged her bag out of the elevator when it stopped at Hyomin’s floor. She had brought some more clothes from the dorm and since she had an assignment to do, her bag was being weighed down by a couple of heavy textbooks. The short girl huffed as she typed in the security code and opened the door. She spotted her girlfriend’s jacket hanging on the coat hanger and heard a sweet voice call out from the bathroom, “Sunny bunny, is that you?”

“Nope, it’s the mailman!” Sunny chuckled at her own joke. Her laughter was cut short when Hyomin stepped out of the bathroom in her birthday suit. Leaning ily against the counter, Hyomin grinned at a gaping Sunny, “My my, looks like I’ll be cheating on my girlfriend tonight with a really cute mailman.”

“W-why are you not wearing a-any clothes?” 

Hyomin giggled as Sunny stared at her chest, “I just took a bath, silly.” The taller girl moved to the closet to put on some clothes while lecherous eyes followed her. As Hyomin pulled open the closet door, she felt small arms wrap around her waist to abruptly turned her around for her lips to meet Sunny’s own. Hyomin moaned as Sunny deepened the kiss and when the shorter girl s her hands upwards toward her girlfriend’s chest, she was gently pushed away by a giggling Hyomin.

“You haven’t even taken a bath.”

“Mmm.. Join me baby,” Sunny whined.

“I’ve already had my shower.” Hyomin giggled as she watched Sunny pout cutely.

Hyomin slid a pair of shorts and a tank top on before shooing the shorter girl into the bathroom, “Go get cleaned up and I’ll make you dinner.” Sunny reluctantly gave in to Hyomin’s instructions and grabbed her towel off the rack before heading into the bathroom. When she was done, she opened the bathroom door and was greeted with a delicious smell.

“What are you cooking, Minnie?” Sunny asked and back hugged her girlfriend who was adding something to two bowls in front of her. “Just some simple ramen. Go sit down, it’ll be ready soon.” Taking a deep breath of the scent of Hyomin’s tangerine smelling hair, she slid her arms from Hyomin’s tiny waist and moved to dressing table to dry her damp hair. Not long after, she clapped her hands excitedly as Hyomin placed the delicious bowls of ramen on the dining table.

“So why did you suddenly go out with Jessica? I thought you didn’t want her helping you with your assignment,” Sunny asked through a mouthful of noodles. Hyomin shrugged, “I just had a few things to ask her.” The brunette looked thoughtful for a moment, “Sunny, if Jessica had only hurt Yuri because she had no other choice, would you still be mad at her?” Sunny looked at Hyomin in surprise but gave it some thought before answering her, “Well, if there was a reason, why didn’t she just tell it to Yuri instead of breaking her heart coldly?”

“Maybe she thought it was a way to protect Yuri?”

“Hmm.. Even if so, I think if she truly loved Yuri, she should have told her instead of hiding it.”

“But why the sudden questions about Jessica and Yul?” Sunny asked curiously. Hyomin shook her head and smiled at her girlfriend, “Aniyo, it’s just that when I mentioned Yuri a few times, she seemed a little sad so I thought there may be something that we don’t know about.” Sunny nodded, remembering Sooyoung’s words, “She hurt Yuri so bad that I don’t know if I can forgive her for that but I guess that a part of me believes she didn’t do it on purpose and to be honest, I miss my friend.” She was surprised when Hyomin gently held her hand from across the table and saw a small smile on that beautiful face.

“You’re a kind person, Sunny. I’m glad I met you.”

“I-I don’t know. She’s not the only one guilty of hurting loved ones.” Sunny looked down glumly at her empty bowl.

“Your friends have already forgiven you for it.”

“But, if I could revisit the past, I would not have let my friends get hurt.”

Hyomin nodded sadly, remembering the choice she had made this afternoon. She would not have been able to forgive herself too, if she hurt Jiyeon or any of the other girls. But now, her heart was torn into two. She would have to hurt the one person she loved more than anything in this world to save the girls that she had come to call her family. Memories of Jessica’s words came flooding into her mind as she recalled the talk she had with the icy blonde.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Author’s Note:

Today, the author has no words for fear of my fellow Sunbyung shippers.

I hope this chapter sits well with the readers and I hope you’re all ready for what’s to come in future chapters.

Thank you for reading, upvoting, subscribing and commenting! :)